Nvidia offers to take a cut of AI cloud revenue on top of hardware sales in new optional financing vehicle

NVIDIA has introduced a new business model enabling it to generate revenue twice from the same hardware: once through initial hardware sales and again via ongoing percentages of the revenue generated ... Read original →

NVIDIA’s revenue-sharing model signals a strategic pivot from chip vendor to AI infrastructure gatekeeper. Technically, it locks cloud partners into its 3nm EUV-based Grace Blackwell and DSX stack, stifling alternatives like AMD’s CDNA or custom ASICs. Regulatory risks loom large: cross-border revenue splits may attract scrutiny under the EU’s Digital Markets Act and U.S. export controls, raising compliance overhead for partners in Singapore or Taiwan, China. Competitors will counter—AMD could push open-IP licensing, while hyperscalers like Google and Microsoft accelerate in-house AI accelerators. Within 18 months, if scaled across Asia-Pacific, this model will reframe AI capex as opex, making GPU utilization—not unit sales—the core valuation metric, shifting the industry from a 'pick-and-shovel' to a 'toll-road' economy.